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Judge approves recount in N.J. race

MAYS LANDING, N.J. A Superior Court judge on Thursday granted Republican Assemblyman John Amodeo a full recount of the ballots in his Second District legislative race won by Democratic challenger Vince Mazzeo.

Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez ruled Friday that provisional ballots should be opened and counted in a race in which Second District Assemblyman John Amodeo (left), a Republican, leads Democratic challenger Vincent Mazzeo by just two votes.
Superior Court Judge Julio Mendez ruled Friday that provisional ballots should be opened and counted in a race in which Second District Assemblyman John Amodeo (left), a Republican, leads Democratic challenger Vincent Mazzeo by just two votes.Read more

MAYS LANDING, N.J. A Superior Court judge on Thursday granted Republican Assemblyman John Amodeo a full recount of the ballots in his Second District legislative race won by Democratic challenger Vince Mazzeo.

Mazzeo prevailed over Amodeo by the thin margin of 40 votes, and was certified the winner Tuesday by the Atlantic County clerk and Board of Elections.

Judge Julio L. Mendez granted all of Amodeo's requests, including a recheck of all voting machines used in the Nov. 5 election and a recount of all early vote-by-mail ballots, emergency ballots, and provisional ballots.

The recheck of all 208 voting machines is to start Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the Atlantic County Superintendent of Elections warehouse in Northfield.

The recount of the early vote-by-mail ballots, emergency ballots, and provisional ballots will take place the next business day, Wednesday, at 9 a.m. at the Board of Elections - unless both parties agree to an earlier time, according to Mendez's ruling.

The certified totals have Mazzeo with 25,164 votes to Amodeo's 25,124.

Amodeo, 63, of Margate, a semiretired crane operator who is in his third term in the Assembly, said Wednesday that he would petition the court for a recount after reviewing the certified totals with Republican Party attorney Randy Lafferty.

"I just feel in my heart that this is the right thing to do," Amodeo said Thursday after the judge's ruling. "The outcome of this election has changed more than once, and I feel I owe it to the 25,000 who supported me to make sure the outcome is right."

Amodeo said he requested and was granted a hand count of all paper ballots. His attorneys also are requesting a list of all names and addresses of those who cast mail-in and provisional ballots.

Mazzeo's certification Tuesday as a new Second District assemblyman, to join Republican Chris A. Brown in January, culminated two weeks of uncertainty.

Amodeo came out on top on election night, 379 votes ahead of Mazzeo, and even gave a victory speech.

But that was followed was a postelection vote count that included 22 hours of acrimonious counting of provisional ballots.

The elections board opened 115 provisional ballots Monday after Mendez ordered that the ballots - which were contested by Republicans as having been improperly handled - should be counted.

Mazzeo, 49, who owns a family grocery in Northfield, where he has served as mayor since 2007, had been down in most tallies by as few as two votes before the additional ballots were counted.

After he was certified the winner by the board, Mazzeo attributed his victory in large part to his strong showing among voters who cast provisional ballots, especially in the Democratic strongholds of Atlantic City and Pleasantville.

Kevin Stamps, campaign manager for Mazzeo, said of Thursday's ruling: "These votes have been scrutinized by a bipartisan board, attorneys from both parties, a deputy attorney general, and a district court judge. We remain confident that after next week's recount, the result will remain the same: the Second District has a new assemblyman, Vince Mazzeo."

The Second District includes much of Atlantic County, with Atlantic City at its center. The fiercely competitive district is currently represented by a Democratic senator, James Whelan, as well as Amodeo and Brown in the Assembly.

Whelan, along with Brown, won reelection.